The great majority of communities affected by disasters in developing countries are directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods. Early investment in rehabilitating the sources of livelihoods not only reduces the risk of protracted relief operations and displacement but also provides a sustainable and efficient means of return to normality. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is the lead agency for agriculture and has significant experience in almost all developing member countries, with the backing of specialized and highly competent technical divisions in all subsectors of agriculture, namely crops, livestock, fisheries/aquaculture and forestry. Therefore, FAO has the greatest technical comparative advantage to assist member countries in rehabilitating and building improved and more resilient livelihoods.

FAO strives to ensure that national and international technical standards, norms, policies and strategies are taken into account in all interventions, emergency or otherwise. The ‘Assessment and Programme Formulation Guidelines for Agriculture Emergencies (APF)’ is an attempt to highlight some of these standards and to ensure that damage and needs assessments and analysis are of the highest technical standard that guide and inform intervention options.

The main objective of these Guidelines is to assure the quality and efficacy of FAO post-disaster damage and needs assessment and response formulation in the agriculture sector by providing such missions with relevant tools, guiding notes and templates. The Guidelines also aim to standardise the assessment and response formulation processes of FAO in emergencies to better reflect the Organization’s mandate, strategic objectives and principles.